Accreditation Policy of Higher Education: A Case Study of Japan

Abstract

The quality of a country’s higher education (HE) and its assessment, monitoring and accreditation policies are a key not only to its social and economic wellbeing but are also a determining factor in the status of that HE system at the international level. In Japan, quality of education has been an important issue ever since the modern education system was founded in the late 19 th century; as Japan worked to catch up rapidly with western industrial countries. Since, the 1950s, the Japanese HE has been accustomed to assurance for the establishment of new universities and colleges. Thus quality assurance (QA) policy as such is not a new responsibility for Japanese higher education institutions (HEIs). However, the concepts of QA and accreditation are still new. Since 2004, the quality assurance and accreditation system (QAAS) requires that all universities in Japan are to undergo an accreditation process, once every seven years by certified agencies. Accordingly, this paper addresses a brief summary of QA framework of Japanese HE, which we divide simply into main distinct features; the self-evaluation, Standards for Establishing Universities (SEU) and the certified evaluation organizations. As of 2008, there are three institutional accreditation bodies in Japan; Japan University Accreditation Association (JUAA); National Institutional for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation (NIAD-UE); and Japan Institution for Higher Education Evaluation (JIHEE). This paper aims at presenting how these three certified agencies build up their accreditation knowledge base. Moreover, this paper proposes a theoretical model (ERSS Model) of accreditation policy making process in Japan. This model consists of four phases; Evaluation, Recognition, Synthesization and Socialization.